


just talk

by angryjane



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell, Simon Snow & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Drabble, For Simon, Gen, I'm Sorry, Light Angst, Mentioned Mage (Simon Snow), Mentioned Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Not Really?, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sad, Short One Shot, Talking, This Is STUPID, Watford (Simon Snow), Watford Second Year, but make it uhh, ebb is sad, i dont even like angst, i want to write a follow up, it's that, more like, probably, this doesnt make any sense sorry, this is short, this is that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:28:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25114678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angryjane/pseuds/angryjane
Summary: You know the scene in Carry On where Nicodemus goest to listen to Ebb and she's not there? And he says they do this every year? This is that.marked as complete for now, but will add on!
Relationships: Ebeneza "Ebb" Petty & Nicodemus Petty, Ebeneza "Ebb" Petty & Simon Snow
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	just talk

**Author's Note:**

> i am rereading carry on bc i am depressed and it is my comfort thing adn i read that scene and it broke my heart and i had to write this. it's shitty it took ten minutes sorry for mistakes. will probably write more,

Ebb is early for our Christmas routine this year. She’s already leaned against the big yew tree in our backyard, feet planted in the snow. She’s wearing a worn grey sweater-- I think it used to be pink-- and her hair is shorter than the last time I saw her. She must have cut it-- herself, evidently. It sticks up in all directions. 

I take a seat on the bench my mother’s left there all these years. I think she tried to get rid of it one year, but the next time I came it was back. Ebb must have done it. 

She says nothing for a while. But then slowly she starts up, petting the squirrel that’s come crawling up to her side. 

“He’s here,” Ebb says eventually, to the back gate. “The Greatest Mage. He’s real. A lil boy, with freckles. Name’s Simon.” She sniffs, tugging the sleeves of her sweater over her hands. When we were at Watford, she would cut holes in them for her thumbs. Like a monkey. 

“He helps me with the goats sometimes. Nice boy, very nice.” Her nose has gone all red with the cold. “He brought me a little glass goat, over the summer. It’s got a mighty crack all along the bottom from being in his luggage. I appreciate it a lot, you know. He doesn’t have much. 

“No parents, and only the two friends. And he fights mighty often with the Pitch boy. I don’t much like _him._ Last year, he punched poor Simon in the gut, right out on the Lawn.” 

I snort, and she smiles, still looking resolutely ahead. It’s times like these I wish I could talk back. 

“I had to spell the two of ‘em apart, like children.” She stops, toeing thoughtfully at the slush beneath her slippers. Ebb never remembers to take off her house slippers when she goes outside. She used to track mud all over the house, and Mum would have a right fit. “I s’pose they are children. Doesn’t feel like it. The Pitch boy talks like he’s forty, and Simon’s got more responsibility than he knows what to do with.” 

She looks forlorn, the smile slipping from her face. She’ll be crying in no time, I know it. “I wish I could help him. But I can’t do much. It’s just me and the goats. 

“I like when he comes to help me. He comes to me when he’s angry. It’s nice. The goats like him, and the birds flock to him like nothin’ I ever seen. When he- well, when he goes off- that’s what they’re calling it, when he explodes. He starts glowing and everything smells like smoke”--Crowley, I’d kill for a cigarette, but it’s much too dangerous-- “Everything gets murky, and blurry-like. Like the bottom of the swamp.” 

In sixth year, Ebb, Fi and I snuck out to hunt for mud trolls in the swamp five miles from Watford. We didn’t find any, and by the time we got back to the school it was almost light out. Ebb had to spell us invisible so we could sneak back in. 

She’d always been the most powerful out of us three-- she could do shit like that without even thinking twice. More powerful than Headmistress Pitch, even. More powerful than the Mage himself. 

“It’s amazing,” She’s saying. There are tears all down her face, streaking the flour stains there. “And scary. All this magic leaks out, and everyone goes stupid and drunk on it.” The Greatest Mage must be the only one more powerful than Ebeneza, I think. “And he’ll fight anything that tries to hurt someone. He’s very brave,” She sniffles again, “I wish I could protect him more.” 

I look at her. She’s still crying. I can’t help but feel the same.

**Author's Note:**

> marked as complete for now, but will add on!
> 
> [join the discord server to make friends and talk about carry on stuff!](https://discord.gg/pgSyURj)
> 
> comments would be lovely!!
> 
> have a nice day and remember the poor can't go hungry if they're eating the rich


End file.
